Finding Obsidian

12 - Mistake Number Four

"You've got to be kidding me."

The elevator was pitch-black. I couldn't see anything. And yet despite all that, I was painfully aware of Rian right next to me, his breath cool and even in the dark.

Oh, right. The dark.

I drew my feet up and propped my head on my arms. "As if this wasn't bad enough," I muttered. In an effort to distract myself, I turned to Rian. "But wait, weren't you saying something? Before we got plunged down the rabbit hole, I mean?"

I could feel rather than see him lock back up, returned to his perpetual iciness. "No, it wasn't important."

"Ah." I nodded in conciliation, tapping my fingers against my knee. There goes that method of diversion. I tried not to dwell on it too long. "Oh!" I exclaimed, a thought suddenly hitting me.

With a jolt, I started patting around my coat pockets. It didn't take me long to find what I was looking for.

"Yes!" I whooped, whipping my phone out triumphantly. Seriously, why hadn't I thought of this before? I pressed the power button, waiting for the blessed relief of synthetic illumination.

And . . . nothing.

"Huh?" I tapped the screen, shaking my head in denial when it didn't turn on. "No. No no no nononono—"

"What?" Rian asked, his voice steeped in cold annoyance.

"My phone," I breathed in disbelief, my hand falling limply to my lap. "My phone is dead. It's actually dead."

Groaning, I hung my head dejectedly. That was it. Our last hope at salvation, reduced to nothing more than a piece of tempered glass and metal.

The way things were going, we really would have to wait until morning to get out. The thought of Rian and I stuck in this small dim box, completely isolated, with no possible chance of interruption . . .

For once I was actually grateful for the dark. My face was probably bright red.

"Here."

I reluctantly glanced up at Rian upon hearing his voice, zooming in on his outstretched hand. My eyes widened. "Use this instead," he continued.

He offered me his phone, paying no attention when my jaw dropped open. "This is your building, so I assume you know the number to whoever can get us out of here."

I didn't respond. For some reason, the possibility of Rian having a phone hadn't even occurred to me. I mean . . . didn't you use phones to actually call people?

Rian looked at me then, taking notice of my mouth forming a shocked 'o'. For a few moments he considered me impassively. Then he reached out with his index finger, placing it on the bottom of my chin, and snapped my jaw closed.

"Careful." His command was quiet, but the element of danger in it made it seem like he was giving me a genuine warning. "Leave your mouth open and you don't know what may enter."

Leave your . . . oh my god.

My cheeks flamed, and I quickly grabbed the phone from his open palm. "Th-thanks," I said hurriedly. I made no effort to try and cool the raging fire in my face; it was all I could do to try and force the memory of his words out of my mind.

Calm down, Hanna, I thought determinatedly. Don't think about it. You're still mad at him, remember?

Nodding to myself, I tapped on the phone icon and started to dial the number. I pressed the phone to my ear and anxiously listened to it ring. Contrary to what Rian may have thought, I didn't know if the building even had an emergency number, let alone what it might've been. So instead, I went for the next best thing.